Back to Braunston.

We are back at Braunston top lock again, 5.75 miles, 3hrs. We travelled up through the locks with our friends David & Elaine on nb Patience.
Elaine and David moored up behind us overnight. It was absolutely wonderful to see them again. We were cruising down to Stratford-upon-Avon with them this time last year. Like all good boaters we had a good old natter, and caught up on all their news. So this morning we thought we my as well cruise together up the locks. The rain has now stopped and the sun is now out yayyy. Elaine and David will tell you, that when ever they do Braunston Locks, it always rains.

Braunston Historic Boat Rally

Hi Folks.

I am not going to mention the football, because I realise that there maybe some very depressed people reading this post at the moment. So I will cheer you up with a few photographs from the 8th Braunston Historic Boat Rally.

There were 94 historic boats at this years event. Which is a record. The event organisers were also fortunate with the weather, it was sweltering on both days, which brought out the public and made for some great photographs.

We had the most wonderful weekend, even though we were not taking part as we are not historic, although we are a working boat. Hadar was moored above the locks in the peace, quiet and shade, which was ideal for Paddy and Marmite. It just meant we had a bit of walk.

Keith took part in one of the boat parades. Two were held each day. The first at 11am and the second at 2pm. Keith managed to get a lift on Tom Hill's boats Archimedes and Ara. Keith was in his element.

Our weekend was made all the better, because we got to meet lots of fellow Bloggers and Facebookers. It is always wonderful to put faces to names. So a huge thankyou to everyone who came and spoke to us. It was lovely to see you all. It was also wonderful to see old friends. Some who had travelled quite a way to come to the Rally. If you have never been to the Braunston Historic Boat Rally, make sure you come next year, because it is a fantastic event. The atomosphere is amazing, as are the people you get to chat too.

Today has been a bit of a let down after such a wonderful weekend. But I think we both needed a rest after all the walking we had done.

We polished the boats brass and waited for Tom and James to come with some diesel.

They duly arrived during the afternoon to fill Hadar's tanks. Whilst she was filling up, I supplied the lads with drinks and the usual boaters talk got underway. Tom and James were heading back to London, so we hope they have a good trip. Tom's boats Archimedes and Ara look brilliant now they have been painted up, they are a credit to Tom.

With the day almost at a close, we are looking forward to a goodnights sleep, before setting off down the locks in the morning.

Horse Boating in the sun.

Good afternoon.

I have spent a fabulous morning taking photographs of the 'Butty' Angel being legged through Braunston Tunnel and then the butty was pulled along by a beautiful horse named Gypsy Queen. It was so wonderful to see. It made me ponder about how they used to do boating all those years ago.
It took the leggers about an hour and half to leg through Braunston Tunnel, all 2042 yards, 1867 metres. They certainly needed their weetabix this morning.
Gypsy Queen pulled the Butty Angel out of the lock and on to the next lock down the flight. There is something so majestic about this form of transport. It would have been so peaceful on the cut in those days.

Crick to Braunston.

We are now at the top lock Braunston, 8.5miles, 7 locks, 4hrs. We have had a lovely run through Crick Tunnel and down Watford Locks then on through Braunston tunnel. It was a fantastic mornings cruising, in the lovely sunshine. Surprized the moorings above Braunston top lock are empty, so we are now here till the weekend and the Historic Boat Rally.

Leicester Arm here we come.

Friday 13th February.

Braunston to Norton Junction, Leicester Arm. 4.4 miles and 6 locks.

Last night it snowed for a while and we had thought we would not be moving today, but the snow turned to rain and then stopped, so we were much more optimistic that we would be able to make a move.

When we got up the sun was shining which bode well for us setting out up the Braunston Flight. Even the ice on the canal had disappeared. So with Paddy walked, breakfast eaten and tea drunk, we donned our coats and slipped our mooring. Just after leaving our mooring we saw Les on NB Valerie, he was moored near the Elsan Point at Bridge 91. He advised us that we may have problems getting onto the Leicester Arm as the ice is very thick, we said we would give it a look and make a decision once there. We wished him well and headed onward towards the Braunston Flight.

The main obstacle for me was keeping my feet at the locks. I reckon I could have given Todd Carty a run for his money on Dancing On Ice at times, because it was slippery under foot, where the snow had been compacted into ice, but I took everything at a slow pace and making sure of my footing at all times. With the flight cleared, we then headed through Braunston Tunnel and out into yet more bright sunshine. After the tunnel there are lots of signs out which say No Mooring, it is because Morrisons are doing a lot of towpath work, along this stretch of the canal, almost to the junction.

We arrived at Norton Junction, having not had much of a problem with ice, but that was all about to change as we entered the mouth of the Leicester Arm.

The ice is indeed thick, but with warm bright sunshine now directed onto it, we are hopeful that the ice will begin to melt and we are not the only ones as other boats have been here a couple of days and are hoping to head up the arm. So we shall see what the weekend brings before making any further decisions.

Braunston to near Wormleighton.

Monday 29th December.

Braunston to Napton Bridge 7.3 miles.

We enjoyed a lovely quiet Christmas in Braunston, friends passing from time to time, on their boats, these included Brian and Diana on N.B Harnser and Mike on the Working Boat Jubilee. Over Christmas we took a scenic walk into Braunston passing Braunston’s beautiful church.We also paid a visit to the Boat Shop above the bottom lock, where we enjoyed an interesting conversation with the shop owner about Braunston and its history. The Boat Shop not only has lots of boat paintings, painted canal ware, books and gifts, it also has a few groceries for anyone in desperate need of provisions.As we left the Boat Shop, the tunnel tug Sharpness was exiting the lock with another Narrowboat. The last time we saw Sharpness was at the Black Country Museum back in August.Having spent a nice few days in Braunston, it was decided that we would make a move today towards Napton, but first we needed to reverse Hadar to the sanitary station by Midland Chandlers to get rid of rubbish and empty the toilet cassette. 9.40am we set off from the sanitary station and turned onto the Grand Union Canal making our way into the open countryside, with a backdrop of hills. As we approached bridge 98 on the Braunston Puddlebanks, we saw the pair of old boats one of which is burnt out, they have been there for a long time now. But this time one of them had a notice on it.One of the pair of boats is N.B Lucy an historic working boat built in Braunston in 1951. She is due to be taken out of the water in March 2009 to undergo restoration. All this came about after BW put them under a section 8 order.With so few historic boats still around and in use, it will be wonderful to see Lucy restored, so we wish their new owner all the very best with his plans to restore N.B Lucy. You can follow her restoration on her website http://www.phobox.com/lucy/
We carried on through land which is very agricultural, but at this time of the year really pretty. We could see for miles due to no foliage and the fact that many of the hedges had been trimmed. We saw quite a few boats coming towards us during our short jaunt, this included N.B Shadow as it passed the gentleman steering, said “You must be Jo and Keith good morning”. To which I replied “yes we are”. He then informed us that his name was Alfie, my reply was “Good Morning Alfie, nice to meet you”. He did go on to say something else but due to Hadar’s engine noise I could not catch what it was. So Alfie if you are reading this, it was lovely to meet you and hopefully we will meet again someday. We found ourselves behind N.B Rune from Braunston for a short time as we both past by Napton Junction. Our cruising ended at Napton Bridge 111, where we found a mooring. Unfortunately the pub is closed on Monday’s, so we will not be having a meal there this evening, which we had thought would have been nice, never mind we will eat there one day, it will be mince beef curry for us again this evening.

Tuesday 30th December.

Napton Bridge to Bridge 129 near Wormleighton on the Oxford Canal, 7.4 miles and 9 locks.

We awoke to a very cold and bright morning. Our indoor/outdoor thermometer read -2C when I took Paddy for his walk all wrapped up in my winter bag trousers and four top layers which included a base layer, shirt, fleece and donkey jacket.

With the fires stoked, breakfast done and dusted, we slipped our mooring at 9.20am and set off for the Napton Flight of locks, the air was so still that the smoke from the back stove just went straight up into the beautiful blue sky. After a very cold night there was some ice on the waters surface. We got our first glimpse of the Napton Windmill, standing proudly on top of Napton Hill.As we arrived at the first lock, there was a Kate Boats hire boat entering the lock to go up the flight ahead of us. As we climbed the flight, we had fantastic panoramic views across the valley. We did meet other boats coming down the flight, which made for an easy morning’s lock cruising, not only that I got to pass the time of day with others working the locks. Having left the top lock we passed by the old engine house arm before making our way to the Marston Doles pair of locks. We did notice that the pound was down between lock 1 and 2, and the pound above the pair was also down by 3 inches, which made for heavy going. Keith had to work hard around some of the tight corners with Hadar, because it was very shallow which meant Hadar had a mind of her own, thankfully there were no boats coming in the opposite direction, so we were able to keep to the central channel as must as possible. We were waved down by a boater moored up, he asked for two bags of Excel, which we dropped off for him, before heading off once more. It had been a pleasurable days cruising which ended near Wormleighton at 1.30pm. We were surprised to find no boats moored up on our favourite mooring place, which has excellent views across the valley. It would not have surprised us to find it full with boats, but there was not one to be seen. So we have decided that we will spend the New Year here, making the most of the lovely weather and the breath taking view. So we shall see you in the New Year.

Wednesday 17th December.

A cold and frosty morning. I think our indoor, outdoor thermometer over exaggerated just a tad on how cold it was over night (laughs out loud).It was a beautiful morning for a walk; both Paddy and I had a spring in our steps as we strolled along the towpath. Like on other frosty mornings, everything seemed so fresh and clean.
After breakfast we had shopping we wanted to do at Midland Chandlers and Tradline. Then after lunch we did a food shop at Londis, and the Braunston Butcher, we also checked to see if our post had arrived, which it hadn’t. Both Londis and the butchers are little gems with everything we needed for a few days. The butchers is really well stocked, not only with meat, they also have fruit, veg, jams, chutneys and pickles. We came away with some meat and a large jar of pickled onions.
Back onboard the boat the generator needed running, so I did a wash at the same time, which is now hanging in the back cabin, it looks a little like a Chinese laundry at the moment, but will dry really quickly. Keith fitted a new brass stern navigation light on the back cabin, as our other one which was plastic broke when Paddy jumped onboard one day and caught it with his leg. The time seems to have flown by today, maybe that had something to do with the fabulous weather we have had. It has been a wonderfully sunny day for a change.

Thursday 18th December.

Christmas came to Hadar a few days early, with the arrival of our post, which came in a box, lovingly taped up by Tina. The parcel contained our Christmas post, DVD’s from friend Chris, our membership to the HNBOC and all the usual mail. We always love receiving our post as it connects us with family, friends and the outside world. The box our post came in, found another use, when Marmite decided it would make an ideal hiding place. Whilst I had walked up to the Post Office to collect our post, Keith had gone to the Chandlery to buy some oil for Hadar’s engine, as she will be due for an oil change come the New Year, he also came back with an extension pole for the TV Aerial. The evening was spent in The Old Plough Inn, where we enjoyed an excellent three course evening meal, with a pint. Their ham, egg and chips is absolutely lovely. I think every time we have eaten at The Old Plough we have had ham, egg and chips. Neither of us can usually fit in a three course meal, but it was topped off with Keith having bread and butter pudding with custard and I had a piece of very scrummy lemon and ginger cheesecake with ice cream, we finished off the evening with walking back to the boat for cup of Jasmine Tea before bed.

Friday 19th December.

Braunston to the top of Hillmorton Locks, 7 miles.

We left Braunston and the Grand Union Canal and headed to the top of Hillmorton Locks on the Oxford Canal for the weekend, on a lovely sunny morning. The is some lovely scenery with wide open countryside all around us. The one thing we really noticed was the ridge and furrow patterns on the fields along the canal, which is part of this ancient landscape. As we skirted around Barby Hill, we headed under the M45, with its screaming traffic and onward to the top of Hillmorton Locks, where we moored up.
After lunch we walked into Hillmorton where there is a newsagent and a couple of other shops. You get the feeling that Hillmorton has been swallowed up by Rugby and is now a suburb of Rugby. On walking back to the boat we stopped and had a coffee in the café near the bottom of the flight, where working boat Badsey is moored at her home. Inside the café there are some fascinating pictures and history about Jack James the original owner of Badsey and Badsey’s life. Whilst we were drinking our coffee, we got chatting to a lovely gentleman, who told us he is a vicar, who loves walking and boats, so combines both passions with walking the towpaths. We got chatting about boats and what its like to live and work onboard a boat. It was a real pleasure chatting to him. Having said our farewells we made our way back to our boat where we are settled in for the evening.

Bottom of Buckby Locks to Braunston.

Monday 15th December.

Bottom of Buckby Locks to the Top of the Buckby Locks, 1.4 miles and 7 locks.

A calm, almost warm morning, compared to what we have had lately. It was very damp under foot when I took Paddy for his morning walk, but was pleasant weatherwise. We had not hurried to get up as we were only doing a shirt stint, so did not leave our mooring until 10.20am. It is so wonderful not to be in a hurry to get anywhere. As we approached the first of the locks next to Whilton Marina, it was clear to see there was plenty of water coming down, as the water was pouring over the top of the bottom gates. I took a centre line from Hadar, wound it around one of the lock bollards and secured it, before walking up to empty the lock. Having got through the first couple of locks, I noticed a boat in front of us; it was N.B Shirley Ann who had passed us earlier on whilst we were having our breakfast. Graham very kindly waited for us at lock 3 and we proceeded to do the rest of the flight together, which helped Graham no end, because he was single handing. Once we reached the top of the flight, there was just enough room for us both to moor up and it was only 12.25pm, just in time for lunch.
With lunch over, we then chopped up the sticks we had collected along the way, which were lying on the roof. These sticks were then piled up underneath the back cabin stove to dry out. They make excellent kindling first thing in the morning. With Graham moored up behind us we got chatting about the usual boating topics and how wonderful this time of the year is for cruising. The next two things to get done were emptying the rubbish and a toilet cassette at the sanitary station by the top lock. British Waterways guys were busy preparing their work boats for the winter stoppage at Braunston locks, the boats were laden down with metal safety fencing, a pair of lock gates, and lots of other necessary items to carry out work after Christmas. By the end of the afternoon they were underway heading for the tunnel. Paddy and Marmite took advantage of the dry afternoon, by sitting out on the back counter. Keith took Marmite off on her lead for a walk, at times it looked like she was taking him, as she kept changing direction, meowing continually so that everyone knew she was about. Our day ended with us closing the boat up against the cold evening, before we settled down to watch ‘Love Actually’ on DVD, I really love that movie.

Tuesday 16th December.

Top of Buckby Locks to Braunston, 4.1 miles, 1 tunnel and 6 locks.

Brrrr a cold morning greeted Paddy and I as we stepped off of the boat. We walked up the Leicester Arm, where we saw the two Narrowboat Trust Working Boats Nuneaton and Brighton moored up, but there was no one was onboard, so we kept walking until Paddy had done what he needed to do. Back on Hadar we had breakfast, before I made up the fires, fed Mog and Dog and then we prepared Hadar for leaving at 9.50am. We left our overnight mooring and the BW guys hard at work, Keith took Hadar through Braunston Tunnel, there was a boat ahead of us, which turned out to be the ex-challenger boat ‘Victorious’ with Mary and Jim onboard. We arrived at lock 6 with them and down at lock5, we saw Graham on N.B Shirley Ann, we had caught him up as well. Whilst Mary operated the first lock, I walked down and helped Graham by doing the gates for him so he could get back onto his boat to leave the lock. Keith and Jim had plenty to chat about with them both liking engines and railways. Jim helps out on a Steam Railway down in Kent, which must be great fun. Mary and I discuss Christmas and what are plans are, her plans are much more tiring as she is cooking for 17 on Boxing Day arghhhhhh. Thankfully those days are no more for us, we tend to take things a lot quieter these days, not only that we would never get that many onboard, what a great excuse we have. We worked the locks down to Lock 3 and the Admiral Nelson Pub, where we called it a day and moored up, leaving N.B’s ‘Victorious’ and Shirley Ann to travel down the remaining locks together. On the way down we had been shrouded in low cloud and drizzle, during lunch the sun came out for all of five minutes, but it did not stop us taking a walk up into Braunston to find the Londis store and Post Office, as we are waiting for our post to arrive from the boatyard. We walked up the hill into the village which is a really pretty village, with old and new houses, some built of honey coloured stone. The walk is definitely a workout, but you do have the downhill walk back to look forward to (load of laughs). We walked back through the village and down the path opposite Braunston Marina to see if there were any towpath moorings still available, which there were. So once back at the boat we spurred Hadar into life and left the mooring, descended the two remaining locks and moored up at Bridge 1, Butchers Bridge. We will stay for a few days whilst we wait for our post to arrive from Tina at the boat yard; she very kindly collects our mail and posts it on to us, where ever we may be. During the afternoon we put the TV on to see what sort of reception we were going to get, which was not that brilliant, but on Channel 4 we began to watch ‘A Place In The Sun’ because it was all about a lady from Yorkshire, with £150,000 budget, who wanted a Narrowboat that she could cruise the waterways of the UK. During the program she was shown 5 boats from different brokerages, the program also visited Braunston Marina, where she met a boat builder, who told her all about having her own boat built for around £88,000, a boat that she could move on to and cruise into the sunset on. What he did not tell her was she would need to find a mooring to put that boat on. The other boats she looked at all had moorings with them. In the end having considered everything, she decided that she would go to a boat builder and have a boat built. I wondered if she went with the builder from Braunston?
Yet another program that told of the glamorous side of boating and did not explain the pitfalls, but what can we expect from the media?

Braunston to Weedon.

Thursday 6th November.

Braunston to the top of the Buckby Locks at Norton Junction. 4.2 miles and 6 locks.

Our morning got off to a noisy beginning, when at 6.45am all we could hear was a man standing outside our boat calling his dog Barney. Obviously Barney was deaf, because this guy’s voice got louder and louder, as he got crosser with Barney for not coming when he called. Why the heck he did not just go and get his dog I will never know. Anyway having listened to the calling for a few seconds, Keith got out of bed, opened the back cabin door and said to the guy “Do you mind, there are people trying to sleep”. I guess he got no response, because he was soon back inside, closing the door behind him. I lay there and thought “I wonder if the guy would like us to stand outside his bedroom window calling for Paddy at 6.45am” I bet not. It is all about a little common courtesy, which I know I have gone on about before, but it is not rocket science. When we are walking Paddy past moored boats he is always on his lead, we don’t just let him run amuck, I would hate for him to wee over other boaters ropes. We always walk past quietly if it is early. Others should show a little consideration, that is how we feel. Heck I sound annoyed now, whooooppppsss. So having been woken up we got up. I tried to stoke some life into an almost dead fire. Whilst Keith put the kettle on the gas stove and set up breakfast. Having had breakfast Paddy then got his walk on his lead. Both he and Marmite then had their breakfast. The back stove was not for stoking, it was determined not to kick in to life, so I remade the fire and hoped that it would light. We were ready to head off at 8.25am on a very overcast and damp morning.

It was really murky with heavy drizzle, supplied by the very low cloud and no wind. With no one else up and about, we had no one to share the locks with us on the way up. At lock one there is The Boat Shop, which began its life on a boat moored at Braunston Turn, it then moved into the shop. You can buy basic groceries there, canal ware and gifts, oh and not forgetting ice cream and post cards. If you leave the post cards with them, they will even post them for you, but you have to add the stamp first. Going up through lock two we did have a boat coming down alone, so left the gates open to the lock ready. I had forgotten how heavy the gates are on the Braunston Locks, so I had to really put my back into it.Once through the locks we were then heading for the tunnel, which still has the landslide piled outside the entrance. The last time we came through the tunnel, we had problems getting Hadar past the land slide, thankfully there was no problem this time. Braunston Tunnel, was opened in 1796 and is 2042 yds long. When the tunnel was being built, the builders made a mistake with the direction it was going, so now the tunnel has a slight S bend in it. Whilst going through the tunnel N.B Pilgrim passed us coming through in the opposite direction. Once we were back out into the open again, the autumn leaves were showing off their glorious colours, and despite the murky weather conditions, the canal still looked beautiful. We made our way to Norton Junction and turned right along the Grand Union Canal Main line, where we moored up by the British Waterways Yard, with the first of the Buckby Flight in front of us. The back stove fire had finally kicked into life, and we had heat at last. I do wonder if the weather conditions have had something to do with the fact that it would not light.

After our lunch of toasted crumpets, I made a chicken curry for dinner and a vegetable soup, which we will have tomorrow for lunch, these were then put in the oven of the back stove and on top of the stove to cook, whilst we took a walk down to Whilton Marina, below Lock 8 we passed Anchor Cottage, which sells canal ware and gifts etc, but was closing up for the winter as we walked by. The cottage is one of a group of lovely red brick cottages. Once at the marina we took a look around the chandlery, in the marina there were a lot of boats up for sale. Like with housing, selling a boat at the moment is not an easy task. On our way back to Hadar, the one thing that really struck me was the noise from the M1. The constant droning of the vehicles would drive me crazy if I had to live beside it. Keith remembers when he and his parents had their first summer trip on his parents boat in 1969, whilst moored below the bottom lock, they walked up to the motorway bridge and stood watching the traffic rush by underneath. Back then there was no speed limit and no where near as much traffic. Back on Hadar, Marmite and Paddy sat on the stern watching the world go by. Keith got chatting to the local British Waterways men, who are getting ready to do the winter maintenance on the Watford Locks up the Leicester Arm.

Friday 7th November.

The Buckby Locks at Norton Junction to Weedon 4.4 miles and 7 locks.

We woke up to brilliant sunshine, which was such a nice surprise after the last couple of mornings. With there being no hurry for us to move, we got up at our leisure. Paddy enjoyed a walk up the Leicester Arm of the canal at Norton Junction, and when we arrived back onboard Hadar, Keith was already preparing mushrooms on toast for breakfast. Whilst he was doing the breakfast, I relit the back stove fire, as it had gone out yet again. My thought is that I am over dosing on the damping down at night, so tonight I will be a little lighter on the ash I lay on top of the fire and see if that works. At this rate I will need to buy a new box of fire lighters sooner than I thought. Before we descended the Buckby Locks, we filled up with water and got rid of more rubbish. By 10.30am we were on our way down through the first lock, which is crossed by the Old Roman Road, Watling Street. The Buckby Flight, follows the M1 with its roaring fast traffic, a piece of 20th Century road, is joined by the London-Midland Railway. It really is quite scary to see how fast some of the cars are going. I am so pleased we no longer have a car or a need to travel on busy roads. We only met 3 boats coming in the opposite direction and they were all together. The last lock of the day was beside Whilton Marina. The canal along this stretch is really stunning at this time of year.The leaves on the trees were vibrant colours of yellow, gold, bronze, red and green. With the sunshine shining through the branches, it felt really magical, the only thing that spoilt the moment was the noise of the M1. We saw N.B Adrastea, but neither Margaret nor John was onboard. We first met them at the Shackerstone Festival this year. I am sure we will see them again at some point.Our day of cruising ended at 1.25pm, with a mooring at Weedon above the church. Although we do have the railway beside us, it still seems quiet. We had a late lunch of home made vegetable soup and crusty bread before taking a walk in to Weedon. Weedon has the River Nene, Grand Union Canal and West Coast Main Line railway all travelling through it. To get in to the village, you need to walk down the steps and through the church yard. The village of Weedon is a real contrast of styles in housing. Some of the older cottages are built out of a honey coloured stone, like the church, which is beautiful. Some of the cottages are thatched and others are newer and built in brick. There is a One Stop convenience store for all provisions, there is also a Post Office, Chemists, Hair dressers, a gift shop and the quilting store Bramble Patch. I know this store from using them online a few years ago, but never connected that they were in Weedon. Keith and I also took a walk up to the old Royal Ordnance Depot, which was once connected to the canal. Now if you have read our diary before you will know we have an interest in history of these old canalside villages, and we like to look around the cemeteries, where we can learn a lot about the village itself and those who lived there. Weedon is no exception; there are groups of names in the grave yard, which all died around the same time, so I will be doing a bit of research to see if there was any connection. It has been a fabulous day.